OL97: ErrMsg: Word Is Either Busy or Cannot Be Found (176747)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Outlook 97
This article was previously published under Q176747

SYMPTOMS

When attempting to use Microsoft Word 97 (WordMail) to open an e-mail message in Microsoft Outlook 97, you may get the following error message:
This form requires Word as your e-mail editor, but Word is either busy or cannot be found. The form will be opened in the Outlook editor instead.

CAUSE

There is a folder named "Program" (without the quotation marks) on the root of your hard drive (c:\Program). There may also be a file named "Program."

RESOLUTION

Rename or remove the folder and/or file named Program. After doing so you may get the following warning message:
This change may impact one or more registered programs. Do you want to continue?
Click Yes to continue the operation.

If problems persist, do a maintenance installation of Microsoft Office 97 with the /y switch, to re-register the programs.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Outlook 97.

MORE INFORMATION

This situation may cause other OLE problems in Microsoft Office 97 programs, such as inserting graphs, ClipArt, spreadsheets, etc. Re- registering Office should fix the problem. See the articles reference below for more information.

To Re-register the Office Programs

  1. Close any running Office programs.
  2. Insert the Office 97 compact disc in the drive.
  3. Click the Start button and Click Run.
  4. Type <CD drive letter>:\Setup.exe /y and click OK.
  5. When the Microsoft Office 97 Setup starts, click Reinstall.

REFERENCES

For more information on problems caused by this condition, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

173430 OFF97: Error Inserting an Office Object Under Windows NT 4.0

170669 Creating C:\Program Folder Causes Add/Remove Program to Fail

For more information on the error message above, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

169526 WD97: WordMail Errors After Remove All of Project 4.1a

166050 WD97: Outlook/WordMail Tries to Use Word Viewer as Editor

174279 OL97: Error Trying to Use Word as Your E-mail Editor

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/26/2000
Keywords:kbbug KB176747
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